One of the biggest Head Coaching decisions of the 2000's was made when LSU fired National Championship winning Head Coach Ed Orgeron before poaching Notre Dame's Brian Kelly. The news left College Football fans stunned as Brian Kelly spent 12 seasons in South Bend becoming one of the most respected names in College Football.
Notre Dame fans were left especially stunned as they viewed themselves as one of the best programs in College Football yet, they let another program poach away their Head Coach. While Notre Dame fans looked for reasons why Brian Kelly left and thought the decision to leave the truth was right in front of them that LSU is simply just a better program in the College Football landscape.
On3's Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman ranked the 10 best jobs in College Football and while Notre Dame is still one of the top jobs in College Football, LSU is also clearly a step ahead of the Fighting Irish.
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In this new era of College Football, Notre Dame has a higher floor than LSU which can't be ignored. Not playing in a Conference gives the Fighting Irish an easier path to the College Football Playoff as they have a softer regular season than the gauntlet LSU has to go through in the SEC.
While Notre Dame has a higher floor as a program, LSU's ceiling is significantly higher than Notre Dame's. The last 3 Head Coaches (Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Ed Orgeron) at LSU have all won National Championships at LSU in the 2000's while you have to go all the way back to 1988 at Notre Dame when Lou Holtz won the last title at Notre Dame.
LSU has the distinct advantage of being able to pull from one of the best talent pools in the Country as Louisiana produced the most 2025 NFL Draft picks per capita. Notre Dame gets to draw from Indiana but, the Hoosiers are in the same state and are a Power-4 program which helps divide up the In-State talent.
The factor that could've pushed Notre Dame ahead of LSU was NIL and the willingness to use the transfer portal. After Brian Kelly said he wasn't in the market of "Buying Players" and as LSU got outbid for the Nation's top player Bryce Underwood it raised some concerns about LSU's ability to win high level recruiting battles in this new era. The Tigers then went out and made anyone who was concerned fell stupid as LSU went scorched earth in the transfer portal landing arguably the best class in the Country.
Thus far since Brian Kelly made the leap has Notre Dame had more success? Of course, the Fighting Irish just played for a National Championship while LSU is still looking to make the College Football Playoff. Over time, LSU offers more of an advantage and if they ever return to the Playoff, the Tigers will be a program with better ability to win the National Championship as history has proven.